Page 10 - Microsoft Word - Unitherm EW Report 11_7_2005.doc

followed by EW. Although the effect on the ‘dirty’ blades may look somewhat reduced,
the 100% EW was still very effective for a short, 15-sec rinse (as compared with some
sanitizers that require a 2-min contact time for effective eradication of Listeria). Since the
100% EW contains approximately 200 ppm free chlorine, it will need to be followed by a
water rinse. It should be noted that although the reduction obtained with the 10% EW on
dirty blades was not exemplary (0.64-log reduction), one must consider the compounded
effect of frequent periodic rinses with such a microbial intervention that can be freely
sprayed directly on food and food contact surfaces, that does not require a post-
application rinse, and that the solution applied (~pH 7.0) was not the most effective EW
treatment. We hope to follow this work shortly with similar treatments using EW at
various lower pH levels whereby we may readily obtain a 1-log, or greater, reduction on
dirty surfaces (pH 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0). The merit in this treatment will be that it can be
applied to food and food contact surfaces with no subsequent rinse treatment, and
therefore, periodic re-application of such innocuous solutions may merit from pathogen
reduction from repeated application, even during processing operations.

9. Conclusion.

Having used the most tenaciously adherent strains that we could identify using our biofilm
attachment assay, treatment with Electrolyzed Water results in a quantitative reduction of
cell counts as determined from proteinase release assays (Fig. 7), fluorescence assay
(Fig. 9), and scanning electron microscopy (Fig. 10). The data suggests that application
of EW in similar fashion to food processing facilities could significantly reduce, or
eliminate, Listeria monocytogenes as an environmental surface contaminant on both
clean or dirty surfaces (Fig. 11).

10